Tips for first-year consultants at MBB? What I wish I knew before starting

loved this question as it made me reflect.

TLDR-Your performance is constrained by energy, people, and politics more than raw problem-solving ability.

Manage your energy aggressively.
This job is a marathon of intensity, not a test of heroics. Protect sleep as much as you can. If something can be postponed and buying 30 extra minutes of sleep is an option, take the sleep. The ROI of a well-rested brain is higher than a half-done task delivered while exhausted. You’ll think clearer, make fewer mistakes, and actually move faster the next day.

Network internally from day one.
Staffing is a constant motion problem. You are effectively re-interviewing for your next role every few months. Build relationships with EMs, PLs, and partners before you need them. Be visible, be reliable, and follow up. Good staffing doesn’t happen by accident.

People matter more than topic or industry.
A great project with a toxic partner or EM will drain you faster than a “boring” topic with good leadership. If you experience consistent toxicity, disengage early and don’t go back. People rarely change at senior levels. Protect your long-term trajectory, not just the current case.

The client’s perception of you matters more than you think.
Clients talk to senior leadership. Make sure they like working with you, trust you, and see you as dependable. If a client has a private agenda or behaves in a toxic way, raise it early with your leadership. Letting it fester will hurt you, not them.

Learn to manage upward early.
Don’t wait for feedback cycles. Clarify expectations weekly. Ask what “great” looks like for your EM or partner, then deliver exactly that. Most underperformance at MBB is expectation mismatch, not capability.

Bias for clarity over perfection.
Clear, well-structured thinking beats over-polished work every time. Senior people value judgment and signal, not decorative slides. When in doubt, simplify.

Build a reputation for one thing first.
In your first year, don’t try to be good at everything. Be known for something: rock-solid analysis, calm under pressure, client communication, or reliability. Generalists emerge later.

Take care of your body.
Exercise, sunlight, basic nutrition. This isn’t wellness talk; it’s performance hygiene. The job punishes neglect fast.

Let me share what I wish someone had told me when I started.

Nobody expects you to know everything. I see so many new joiners walk in trying to prove they belong. They overwork slides, overthink analysis, and are scared of saying "I don't know." Your team knows you are new. They hired you for your potential. The fastest way to earn respect is to ask good questions, not pretend you have all the answers.

The work itself is not the hard part. You will pick up the frameworks, the analysis, the slide building within weeks. What is actually hard is the people side. Working with a manager who gives vague instructions. Knowing when to push back and when to just get it done. Reading the room in a client meeting. That is what separates people who thrive from people who just survive.

Build relationships beyond your immediate team. Your project team will keep changing. But the connections you make across the firm, other consultants, partners you meet casually, even support staff, those carry your career forward. Some of the best opportunities I have seen came from a partner remembering someone from a random coffee chat, not from a performance review.

Manage your energy, not just your time. You will have brutal weeks. If you go at full intensity every single hour, you will burn out by month four. Learn which parts of the work need your best thinking and which parts just need to get done. Not every slide is a masterpiece. Save your sharpest energy for the moments that actually move the needle.

Get really good at the "so what." Every analysis you do, every slide you build, ask yourself, what does this actually mean for the client? What should they do differently because of this? I have seen consultants produce beautiful work that completely misses the point because they never asked that question. Your manager will love you if you always come with a clear point of view on what your work means, not just the data.

And don't compare yourself to people who started six months before you. They look confident because they have had more reps. You will get there. The learning curve is steep but it is fast. Most people I talk to say they learned more in their first year at MBB than in the previous five years combined.

Show up curious, stay coachable, take feedback without getting defensive. Everyone around you was once exactly where you are now.

First off, huge congratulations on landing the spot. Moving from the recruiting marathon to the actual job is a serious shift, and Year 1 is a critical time to establish your trajectory.

The most important thing to internalize is that in your first year, your job is less about raw intellectual horsepower—the firm knows you have that—and more about reputation management and workflow consistency. The person whose opinion matters most is your Engagement Manager (EM). They write the narrative. Focus on making their life easier by becoming a zero-defect producer on the basics. This means being utterly reliable on deadlines, flagging roadblocks before they become crises, and always, always presenting not just the data, but the synthesized implications of the data. Don't wait for them to ask for the "so what."

Secondly, manage your staffing early and intentionally. The biggest mistake new analysts/associates make is getting stuck doing three similar deep-dive due diligence projects or three consecutive operational improvement projects. Your first three to four projects define the "brand" the staffing partners associate with you. Seek out variety: get one strategy project, one ops project, and one high-profile growth project, even if it requires politely pushing back on staffing requests. Optionality is currency in consulting, and you want to avoid being inadvertently siloed too early.

Hope it helps you hit the ground running.

Zach, 

I actually wrote two materials on this that I believe are a great collection of learnings. Sharing them here:

Expert Guide: How to Become A Distinctive Consultant

Expert Guide: How to Manage for Lifestyle in Consulting

Have a read through them and let me know if you have any questions. 

The absolutely most important thing is to be flexible and open when receiving feedback. It's true in consulting as well that the earlier you fail and the more humble you are at getting better, the quicker and further you'll get. 

Best,

Cristian

Hi there,

Congrats on this next exciting phase.

Tips:

1. Have 1on1 calls with as many leadership as possible to be seen, especially leadership in sectors that you want to work in.

2. Don't underestimate rest - you will be at risk of burnout. Figure out what you DEFINITELY need to do on a daily or weekly basis to recharge.

3. When working, think about how you can make your managers' life easier.

4. Overcommunicate ALL THE TIME to avoid any confusion. Do not hesitate to ask dumb questions in the first 6 months. This is your free pass.

5. Write down what you've done for reference in the future, within the firm and after when you leave.